UPCOMING PROGRAMS

FILL OUT AN APPLICATION HERE

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FILL OUT AN APPLICATION HERE 〰️

/ Program breakdown (Subject to change without notice)

→ Participants’ Concert
All participants are invited to share work in a final concert. This work must be developed during the program. The final participants’ concert will take place on August 16th, and it will be open to the public and available online.

→ Bergamot Quartet & Participating Composers' Concert

→ Performance with Michael, Elliot, Payton, and special guests

→ Bergamot Quartet-programmed Concert

→ Vijay Iyer program offerings to be announced soon

→ Duos Day (Elliot) - full day (90-minute morning session, free afternoon, evening concert)
An adventure in collaboration: participants will be guided in a range of approaches to collaboration as they create a concert of duo performances in a single day.

→ Trios Day (Elliot) - full day (90-minute morning session, free afternoon, evening concert)
An adventure in collaboration: participants will be guided in a range of approaches to collaboration as they create a concert of trio performances in a single day.

→ Adventures in Polyphony (Elliot), 2 sessions
We’ll explore music from various polyphonic traditions, including Renaissance music, Georgian music, and Shape Note hymns. We’ll primarily sing it (or play it on instruments), developing our musicianship and giving us a direct experience of how it works from the inside. We’ll also analyze it, and participants will have opportunities to compose music inspired by our adventures.

→ Composition Workout (Elliot), 3 sessions
I think of composing like exercise — the more often you do it, the more ideas and confidence you’ll have when you sit down with the page. So get out your pencils! I’ll lead us through hands-on practice of the elements of writing music. We’ll start by writing lines of all different kinds (what makes a line ‘good’, anyway?), and then explore approaches to patterning, variation, rhythm, and harmony. Notation skills not strictly necessary - students more comfortable in a piano roll are welcome to work in their DAW.

→ Entrepreneurship as a 21st-Century Ensemble (Bergamot Quartet)
BQ will lead a conversation about ensemble practice as a sustainable business.

→ Percussion Ensemble (Payton), 4 sessions
The inaugural ALN Percussion Ensemble is open to anyone in the ALN community; no conventional percussion background necessary. A plethora of instruments will be employed, with a focus on home-made instruments or found objects. All members of the ensemble will have an opportunity to compose for the group and improvise. Participants will also learn the basics of the history of percussion ensemble.

→ Indian Rhythm Workshop (Payton)

→ Listening Non-Critiques (David, Faculty & Participants), 2 sessions
These are opportunities to share our works in a safe and supportive framework and engage in positive conversations about the works and the connections between them.

→ Interdisciplinary Interactions & Collaborations (David)

→ Composition: An Overview & Discussion (Michael, Elliot, Payton, and Ledah from Bergamot Quartet)

→ Singing & Playing Indian Ragas (Michael & Elliot), 10 sessions on all weekdays
Join this welcoming community where we'll learn by doing. Join in with your voice or your instrument as Michael shares the Kirana lineage of Khayal singing he learned from his Gurus Pandit Pran Nath, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Together, we'll experience the basics of raga, from structural principles to the building blocks of basic rhythmic cycles, improvisation, traditional bandishes (melodic compositions) and ways of combining raga with Western musical approaches. Elliot will assist in teaching the classes.

→ Introduction to Just Intonation (Michael)

→ Intro to composing and performing in alternate tuning systems and just intonation (Michael and Bergamot Quartet)
Forging new approaches to composition and performance through tunings and structures that extend the ancient concept of just intonation, a form of pure tuning constructed from musical intervals of perfect mathematical proportions.

→ Day trip to MASS MoCA

/ Private lessons

CMI 2025 will offer each CMI participant a total of two 60-minute private lessons: one with Elliot Cole, Payton MacDonald or Michael Harrison, and one with any member of Bergamot Quartet. Please indicate your preferences for private lessons in the application form.

For Private lessons with members of Bergamot Quartet:
Each member of BQ will be offering "new and old classical (violin, viola, cello) repertoire and technique." In addition, Ledah, violinist, can also offer Celtic/old-time fiddle, and composition for composer/performers; Amy, violist, can also offer viola for violinists.

Participants must make the request to schedule private lessons at least one week in advance. The faculty’s email addresses will be sent out to participants with the class schedule on July 1st.

For additional one-on-one lessons, please reach out to CMI faculty directly during the program.

/ Collaborations

Collaboration and masterclass/rehearsals with Bergamot Quartet

Bergamot Quartet, a NYC-based string quartet specializing in contemporary music, and 8 participant composers on a first-come, first-serve basis to workshop new music and premiere it on a final concert. Participants from all backgrounds and notational traditions (or lack thereof) are welcome to submit work and proposals.

Please reach out to programs@artslettersandnumbers.com to indicate interest and include a proposal for your idea. We will accept the first eight proposals starting June 1st and connect you and members of BQ to further develop your ideas before the program starts. Please note that your scores should ideally be mostly or totally completed as far as notes on the page go by July 1st. Workshopping time at ALN will be for fine-tuning. We can't wait to hear your music!

Completed works should be in the 5-minute range. It is encouraged for composers to take advantage of the time spent together with BQ before and during the CMI 2025 to chat and workshop, and bring in new works instead of BQ performing composers’ previously completed works.

/ Program schedule

The class calendar/schedule will be announced on July 1st by email.

→ August 2nd: Arrival in the afternoon & Welcome Dinner at 6pm

→ August 3rd: Introductions, Orientations & Informal Sharings

→ August 4th to 15th: Classes and workshops

→ August 16th: Participants’ Concert (onsite & online)

→ August 17th: Closing Session (post-performance) & Departure

Concerts/Performances during the program:

→ August 7th: Bergamot-programmed concert

→ Date tbd: Performance from Michael Harrison, Elliot Cole, Payton MacDonald and special guests